Around 25 foreign scientists will participate, present their research papers during the five-day event.

ISLAMABAD: The fourth International Scientific Spring (ISS), organised by the National Centre for Physics (NCP) in collaboration with Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Italy, began today in Islamabad.

More than 25 foreign scientists from different universities of China, Greece, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, Turkey, Japan, Italy, Bangladesh and Bulgaria will participate and present their research papers during the five-day event which will end on March 9.

The science event will give young researchers and students an opportunity to interact with foreign experts and to exhibit their scientific work before the international community.

While speaking to the participants, ICTP Professor Joseph Nimela said the NCP has excellent potential to collaborate with Italy in the field of science and expressed hope for more future collaborations.

“I am confident that NCP-ICTP collaboration will strengthen in the years to come and will prove very fruitful for the development of science and technology in the region” Nimela said.

“It is our sincere wish that this development ultimately lead to the well being and prosperity of everyone” he added.

Hamid Saleem, NCP Director General, also addressed the participants and foreign guests taking part in the event.

Appreciating ICTP’s contribution to scientific research in the developing countries, Saleem said the institute was increasingly looking outward and planning to expand its role by further opening more affiliated centres.

“For the first time, an international scientific spring is jointly organised by NCP and ICTP and we are thankful to ICTP for the collaboration,” Saleem added.

While paying tribute to Pakistan’s only Nobel laureate Abdus Salam, Saleem said his contributions to the development of science in third world countries were remarkable.